4.14.2014

Greek Mythology Has Always Been His Achilles' Heel

Better Picture Of The "Open Carry" Advocates At Main Street Arts Festival


Random Monday Morning Thoughts



  • I've never understood why the Main Streets Art Festival decides to set up in what is a downtown Fort Worth wind tunnel during the windiest month of the year.
  • But, while the weather was still good, some "open carry" activists decided to walk through the crowd. 
  • I'm not sure how I feel about the federal government/rancher standoff in Neveda. It's been settled (for now, at least) because the feds have backed off. But it sure seems like the rancher is in the wrong on this thing. 
  • Sports and sportsy related things: (1) A great job is the "noncompeting marker" -- the member of Augusta Country Club who gets to play with the last place qualifying player when an odd number of players made the cut, (2)  The final round of The Masters went from riveting to boring in about 30 minutes, (2a) Jordan Spieth dates a Texas Tech sorority girl, (3) There's a 30 for 30 on Tuesday about the "Hillsborough disaster" --  a human crush in a soccer stadium in England that resulted in the deaths of 96 people and injuries to 766 others twenty-five years ago tomorrow. I'm in. (4) The Nebraska coach and his cat was a funny story on Saturday, (5) Official Liberally Lean player Chris Davis finally hit a home run this weekend. (6) Ticket Fans: Departed Rich Phillips' name truly was "Dick Hicks". 
  • I ended up getting caught in the rain while jogging yesterday morning. That's happened a couple of times to me, and I always hate it at first but then end up loving it. But I'd never begin a jog in the rain. 
  • I watched the season premier of Mike Judge's Silicon Valley on HBO. It wasn't as funny as I thought it would be, but it has promise. 
  • What's up with Best Buy? It used to be that you couldn't find a salesman in there to save your life. Now they are everywhere but are hell bent on trying to sell you something you don't want. I had one get visually put out with me when I didn't want to hear his pitch to upgrade a laptop purchase. But the craziest experience was being approached by some independant contractor Best Buy had allowed in the store who asked me if I was "happy with my cable service". Really? You'll let your customers be harassed by some Dish or DirecTV salesperson? 
  • "Despite their best intentions when they set out to conquer a seven-day, 150-plus-mile [foot] race through a North African desert, a Colleyville trio dropped out after the 21-mile first leg." Who would have thunk it? A family from Colleyville couldn't accomplish that? (And the story screams of "Rich People Problems.")
  • "Utah mother, 39, arrested after 7 dead babies found at former home."  The odds are great that we'll get a comment about abortion. 
  • There were about four big cardboard boxes stacked up in the garage so I decided to be productive and whipped out my man sized box cutter and reduced them to pieces small enough to go into the recycle bin.  Then Mrs. LL tells me she was saving them for a specific purpose. 
  • A teenage girl learned not to make Al Qaida jokes to American Airlines on Twitter.
  • That "I'm Not Impressed" Olympian looks like she could be the next Lindsay Lohan. 




4.13.2014

Pete Delkus And Wise County: The Two Mixed Like Never Before


4.11.2014

Above The Fold

Well, That Went Just About The Way You'd Expect



She didn't end with a bang or a whimper.  Just another glitch.

Wow




(But what's "TV viewer on the scene"?)

Tech Coach Gets In A Dance Off Yesterday



I'm not real sure what the purpose of this is (team building?), but Tech had a little dance off yesterday at spring practice.  Kliff Kingsbury gets involved at 1:40.

The Hillary Shoe Duck From Yesterday



Launched by this gal who, dare I say, is kinda hot?


Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • "Your mail is going everywhere, but I'm tracking it down. I've got your back." -- Decatur mailman to me in the courthouse hallway yesterday. But I'm not really sure what he is talking about.
  • Heard reports that a deputy had his radio mic open in one of the Wise County courthouse offices a few days ago which prompted a conversation amongst four or five employees to be broadcast county wide.
  • It was the 35th Anniversary of Wichita Falls tornado yesterday. I remember where I was later that night: In a storm cellar (or a fallout shelter -- I'm not really sure what it was built for.)
  • "Iraq poised to legalize marriage for girls as young as 9".  We love bringing democracy to other countries but are horrified when they exercise it in a way that we don't agree with. 
  • I've only watched a few minutes, literally, of The Colbert Report -- the guy who is getting David Letterman's slot. Because of my lack of interest, I had no idea he was doing a "character".
  • "Ten people - including five teenagers - have perished after a tour bus carrying high school students collided with a FedEx truck in a horrific fiery crash in Northern California on Thursday." Good grief. 
  • I hate the USA Today's web site. It's like a page hovering over a page and some video commercial will ultimately fire up. 
  • Mrs. LL bought the little Google's Chromecast gadget, but I'm still not sure how it works. She sure was giddy, however, of being to broadcast a video from her phone onto the TV with the greatest of ease. 
  • "The NBA issued a two-game suspension to Dallas Mavericks public-address announcer Sean Heath due to tweets criticizing officiating." Is this Russia, Danny?
  • Today is the 20th anniversary of the official opening of the The Ballpark in Arlington. I was reminded this morning that a lady fell over the railing that day and plunged about 30 something feet. She didn't die but broke a few bones. WFAA tracked her down four years ago. 
  • I finally watched half of that Discovery Channel show on the Wylie Axe Murderer. It was horrible. The One Act Play group at Krum High (no offense) could have done a better job. 
  • Man, I missed Jeb Bush's remarks about some illegal immigrants who come here to join their families: "Yes, they broke the law, but it’s not a felony. It’s an act of love." The Far Right isn't going to let him get away with that, are they? 
  • What? There's news about Kathleen Sebelius? Hadn't heard a thing.
  • "Chico Mayor J.D. Clark was named 2013 Small Community Library Advocate of the Year by the Texas Library Association and Small Communities Library Round Table." If we don't hear from the DF J.D. Clark on this, I'll be disappointed. 
  • A guy gets caught taking "upskirt" photos at a Target in Rockwall and then tells police, “I was actually about to go meet my probation officer for my sex addiction class.” Wheels. Are. Off.




4.10.2014

"Woman Mugged On Brazil TV While Discussing Crime"



RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian TV is showing footage of a woman being robbed while being interviewed on television about crime near Rio de Janeiro's main train station.

The images of the interview conducted Wednesday by TV Globo were posted on its G1 internet news portal.

The woman is complaining in the clip about the lack of police presence near the station when the would-be mugger approaches her from behind and rips off what appears to be a gold necklace.

The clip shows the thief fleeing down a busy street, and the reporter is seen chasing him for a few seconds.

The thief, however, was left empty handed. He dropped the necklace, which was returned to the woman.


Medicare Payments to Health Care Providers in Decatur In 2012


On Wednesday, the federal government released a massive trove of Medicare data showing how much some 880,000-plus U.S. healthcare providers were paid for their services in 2012. Fully mining the data will take months or years, but using the data to compile a list of the top Medicare billers took mere minutes.

The database. I searched for Decatur and got four pages -- the first one is above. Hey, no one says the payments aren't legit (so don't start dogging the docs in the comments.) But since it deals with health insurance paid for by the government, I'm sure that'll fire someone up.

Source.

Nate Newton was a patient in Decatur?

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts


  • The Drudge Report is all over an armed standoff between the feds and a Nevada rancher. Kind of reminds me Ruby Ridge.
  • Sports: (1) Josh Hamilton will miss six to eight weeks after sliding into first and hurting his hand. He's got to be one of the dumbest guys ever to play baseball. (2) Ron Washington stopped down yesterday's game to go lefty against lefty which immediately backfired once again. (3) Food prices at The Masters are incredibly cheap. (4) Every time I hear Fuzzy Zoeller's name, I think of him referencing fried chicken and collard greens in 1997.
  • The 16 year old allegedly responsible for the Pennsylvania school stabbing looks, well, 16.
  • And the student who pulled a fire alarm during the attack took a selfie of himself later at the hospital. Well, of course. 
  • Got home yesterday and there was a new carpenter's level equipped with a laser laying on the counter that Mrs. LL had bought. I didn't even ask. 
  • Two days ago going into Decatur on 287 I saw a car with carefully stenciled letters on its bumper which read "Back The [Expletive] Off".  The letters were at least three to four inches tall, it was the only words/stickers on the back, and it was a regular sedan.  So weird. So disturbing.
  • The prosecutor in the South African Blade Runner trial is doing lots of yelling during his cross-examination but making little headway. 
  • Got some push back yesterday for allowing a fake WordKyle to post on here. I just don't think there's any chance people confusing the two. 
  • One of the worst ideas ever placed into Texas Law: "The 'Driver Responsibility' surcharge in which . . . 60% of assessed penalties go uncollected. Around 1.3 million Texans currently have suspended licenses because of the surcharge, which is a civil penalty assessed in addition to criminal fines and penalties for offenses like driving with an invalid license, no insurance, and DWI." More.
  • Mrs. LL has never been to Lone Star Park (today is Opening Day.) 
  • Rick Perry was not at the Fort Hood Memorial Service yesterday.
  • After that service, President Obama went to a fundraiser at the Houston home of plaintiff's lawyer John Eddie Williams. When I googled the guy, I learned he made a major donation for Baylor's new football stadium which, as a result of the gift, will surround "John Eddie Williams Field." Good grief. That's as bad as UT's Joe Jamail Field. 
  • The biggest problem for the plaintiffs in the "fracking trial" mentioned in the Update is proving that any health problems were caused due to nearby gas wells. That's a heck of a hurdle.


4.09.2014

Oops


Am I The Only Person Who Hasn't Seen Frozen?



Mrs. LL just sent me this. What is this? How has it had over 9 million hits?

And I plopped down with my laptop the other day and heard a disc spinning, so I popped open my DVD drive and there was a copy of Frozen.  We own the thing? I didn't even know it.

Pop culture is passing me by.

Aggie Professor Cheats Death! Oh, My!



KBTX - A College Station man walked away with his life and video of an accident that could have been much worse. Dr. Guan Zhu, a professor at Texas A&M University, was driving his Toyota Sienna minivan north on Wellborn road around 2:30 Tuesday afternoon, coming to a stop at the Rock Prairie intersection when a cement truck driver coming from the opposite direction ran the red light and lost control, causing his truck to roll over and smash into Dr. Zhu’s van. Incredibly, Dr. Zhu only suffered minor injuries. He installed a dash camera about a year ago in case he was involved in an accident. It came in handy today, as you can see from the video with this story. “It’s what happened, you know, I could not remember in my memory, a truck is coming, and I could not remember exactly how it happened and then the video says that’s how it happened, kind of turning like 45 degrees before it hits my vehicle,” Dr. Zhu said. The driver of the cement truck did not suffer major injuries and was given a ticket at the scene.

That Sounds Like A Wrestling Name At The Old Dallas Sportatorium


Back in the day, they'd have wrestlers like "Inca Peru" who would be announced as being from "Peru".  If you want a flashback, here are some Sportatorium results from 1974.

Story.  (Which really isn't a big story, but I'm just trying to keep the wrestling theme going since Wise County is in mourning over the death of the Ultimate Warrior.)